Style meets substance

The folks at One Technology dropped us a line to us know about its Phantom One, a desktop PC that's currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. Not just any desktop, but one that is high performance and "designed to look beautiful on your desk," according to the project's Kickstarter page. It's also compact -- to give you an idea, they shot a photo of the Phantom One next to a six back of Coronas.

Now with better USB sound

Kingston said it's begun shipping its new HyperX Cloud II headset featuring a retooled USB sound card audio control box with 7.1 virtual surround sound. It's a hardware-based solution that doesn't require any special drivers -- just plug it and get grooving (or fragging) with independent audio and microphone volume control. There's also a button to toggle on 7.1 virtual surround.

Easier than a trip to the doctor

Free storage is out there for the taking. Earlier today we told you about Microsoft's desire to reward you with 100GB of free OneDrive storage simply for signing up for Bing Rewards. Well, it turns out Google is in a giving mood as well, just to a lesser extent -- in recognition of today being Safer Internet Day, Google will inflate your Drive storage by 2GB just for taking a quick security checkup.

Driver release coincides with Evolve's debut

Nvidia says its been working with publisher 2K Games and developer Turtle Rock Studios to make Evolve "awesome on the PC." Part of that means a new driver release -- Nvidia's Game Ready 347.52 WHQL drivers are now available to download, offering day one support for the anticipated shooter. The latest driver package also contains one-click game setting optimizations within GeForce Experience.

Don't lose your cool

Maintenance free liquid cooling options are all around, and many of them belong to Corsair -- the company's been releasing liquid CPU coolers at a ferocious pace, it seems. In fact, Corsair just announced two new chilly companions for your CPU, the Hydro Series H100i GTX with 240mm radiator and H80i GT with 120mm radiator. Both options feature a next generation cooling block like the one found on the recently released H110i GT.

No credits required for this Bing Reward

Microsoft is giving away (or lending, if you prefer to view it that way) 100GB of OneDrive cloud storage for two years when you sign up for for Bing Rewards, a free program that rewards you for using Bing (imagine that!). And if you're already a Bing Rewards member, you're eligible as well. There are no points required to cash in on this deal, you just have to stake your claim by February 28, 2015.

Because you never know who's snooping

Privacy's a hot topic, especially since our innocence was shattered when former NSA subcontractor Edward Snowden confirmed that we can't even pass gas without the government knowing what we ate for lunch. Like it or not, it's the world we live in, though it doesn't mean we have to wave the white flag. To thwart more casual snoopers, Cherry's JD-0400EU Encrypted Wireless Keyboard and Mouse combo might do the trick.

Looking beyond 4K Ultra HD

Consumers have yet to fully embrace 4K Ultra HD displays, but now that the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has published the Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) 1.4a standard, it will only be a matter of time before 8K resolution panels end up on all-in-one PCs, laptops, and even mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. The new standard replaces eDP 1.4 published a year ago this month.

Examining the different scenarios

Microsoft has been granted a patent for "Windows 365" by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and of course, the immediate reaction is that Windows is headed toward a subscription model similar to Office 365. Indeed that may be the case, though from everything that we know, it probably won't apply to Windows 10, which will remain a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users for the first year.

Say hello to USB 3.1

Biostar's been making a concerted effort to gain a reputation as a high-end hardware player, and it's doing it by releasing boards with enthusiast grade and sometimes unique feature-sets. We saw it last summer with the release of the TD85, a motherboard with half a dozen PCI-E slots intended for Bitcoin miners, and more recently with the Hi-F iZ97Z7. Continuing the trend, Biostar today launched the first in a new line of gaming hardware, the Gaming Z97X motherboard with USB 3.1 support.